Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile at the Saudi capital of Riyadh early on Sept. 19 local time, their first such launch since July. U.S. President Donald Trump reviewed options for airstrikes on Yemen at the Camp David retreat before cutting his schedule short and returning to the White House, briefly heightening tensions.
Alex Plitsas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said on CNN on Sept. 19 that Trump had convened a POTUS meeting at Camp David over the weekend to review options for strikes on Yemen. "U.S. embassies in Middle Eastern countries that are likely targets of retaliatory attacks have issued warnings," Plitsas said, adding that the president had now headed to the White House early.
The United States on the same day told its citizens living in nine Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia, to increase vigilance, citing the risk of further escalation and travel disruptions.
Saudi Arabia's civil defense authority issued air raid alerts for several regions, including Riyadh, from Sept. 18 through the following morning. Reports of explosions in Riyadh continued into the morning of Sept. 19. Authorities lifted the alerts, saying the danger had passed, but flames and columns of black smoke were spotted near King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh shortly afterward. Agence France-Presse reported that a fire had broken out at a fuel tank belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco near the airport.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the same day that Saudi Arabia could request military support under the Mecca joint defense pact it signed with Turkey and Pakistan. "Saudi Arabia's territorial integrity and sovereignty are under serious attack," Fidan said in an interview with NTV, adding that Turkey could provide support if technical and military needs arose. The pact, signed last month, includes a collective defense clause treating an armed attack on any one of the three countries as an attack on all.
A U.S. official, however, said there would be no offensive strikes, responding to reports that Trump had reviewed an attack on Yemen, CNN reported.
